Apparatus for igniting gaseous fuel.



D. S. BROWN, JR. & P. C. STINZING.

I APPARATUS FOR. IGNITING GASEOUS FUEL.

APIfLIOATION FILED AUG. 30, 1907.

912,066; Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

'0 ETiih. nwml'o'mm i I g 1 a. I. I. l I I l 1 1 1 1 1;

IIIIIIIIIIII' ITEI) STATES PATENT OFFICE- DAVID S. BROWN, JR, AND FRANKO."STINZING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR IGNITING GASEOUS FUEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Ilatented Feb. 9, 1909.

Application filed August 30, 1907. Serial No. 390,790.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DAVID S. BROWN, J r., and FRANK C. STINZING,citizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, of theborough of Manhattan and borough of Bronx, in the city, county, andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inApparatus for Igniting Gaseous Fuel, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to means intended and designed to cause theignition of gaseous fuel, more particularly of the gaseous explosivecharges of internal combustion motors, as carbureted air, through themedium of sparks, or sprays of fire, produced by percussion, as throughthe sudden striking of certain hard substance The object of ourinvention is to provide a simple, reliable and eflective igniter forcombustion apparatus, of whatever description, in which the flint andsteel method of prillducing fire may be advantageously utilize As iswell known, certain varieties of silica, as agate, bloodstone,chalcedony, carnelian, jade, carborundum, flint and others, all of whichbelongto-the quartz-family, and which will be enerally referred tohereinafter as flint, when thoroughly dry and hard, will produce fire inthe form of sparks,

Sparks on being struck by a piece of steel. so produced have greatpenetrating and heating power, and are, therefore, well adapted for usein gas and oil engines, in which rapidity and intensity of ignition areprime importance. hot spark that penetrates or projects. into theexplosive or combustible charge in the cylinder of a gas engine withrapidity, is capable ofincreasin the power of explosion, quitematerially due, no doubt, to an increased speed of flame propagation.Furthermore, flint and steel igniters are not only capable of furnishinga succession of sparks, pr'ac;

tically unlimited as to extent, but a plurality of sparkssimultaneously, producin thereby a spray ofgfire of great intensity andavidity, through of. ignition is obtained.

In the accompanyin drawings in which like characters of referenceindicate like of the bell-crank which a greater degree of certaintysharp descent, to.

parts in all the views and figures, we have shown one way in whichtlieflint and steel method of producing fire may be carried into effectto ignite the gaseous charges of internal combustion apparatus.

, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the igniter. Fig. 2 is a. rear View.cross section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

In said figures the letter (1 indicates a pocket or housing which can besecured to the wall of the'combustion chamber of a gas engine, being.provided with bolt'holes, as a, for that purpose. A pivot, as b, ismounted in said pocket, and carries, eX- teriorly of the and, within thepocket, 2). flint holder cl. The flint holder comprises a socket adaptedto receive a piece of flint, as e, which projects slightly outside thepocket and is held in position as by a set screw 0; and a spring, as a;connects the arm 0 with pocket 6 at a lower point on the latter,exerting tension to draw said arm,

upper end against the lower surface of the arm 0, to move the latterupward. Said rod f,-carries a roller 9. at its lower end, in

position to be actuated by a cam 71.. A coiled spring 2', about thelower part of rod 1, and contained in a sheath 7', which extends fromcam-case 70, serves to hold the roller compressively against the cam.Also mounted in the pocket at is a pivot l, which carries a bell-cranklever, one. arm of which, as Z, is intended to serve as a striker, whilethe other arm, as P, is bifurcated, and straddles the-rod f. A lightcoiled spring, as f, isend by a pin f and at its held at its lower upperend is ada ted. to engage the arm Z yielding stop for engagement withthe lower side'of said arm; while an adjustable stop, as a set-nut Z anda lock-nut Z is provided for engagement with the upper side of the arm.

In the drawings, the roller 9 is shown at the highest point of thecalm-and the latter Fig. 3 is aand the flint holder,. Z downward. Avertical rod f, which 51s adapted to be actuated by a cam, bears at itspocket, a horizontal arm 0;

ever, thus constituting a turning inthe direction of the arrow. The

height of the cam decreases to the point indicated at I at which pointthere is a the lowest point k of the this operation particularly, wewill say that, as the cam turns to cause the roller to travel from itslowest to its hi hest point, the initial upward movement 0 the rod feffects no movement of the arm a and little or 'no movement of'the arm 1of the bell-crank lever. The'arm c is stationary, because the rod f haddropped considerably below it,

leaving the arm resting against the adjust able support m. Thebell-crank lever remains stationary, because the spring f is a lightone, whereby the initial upward movement of the rod f results mainly ina slight compression of the spring, so that the bell-' crank lever maybe substantially unaffected. The compression of the spring f is butslight; aud,'as the rod continues to move upward, the arm Z is elevated,thereby causing the striker Z to commence to travel from a position wellin advance of the flint toward the latter. Before the roller 9 arrivesat the highest point of the cam, andwhile the striker Z is still inadvance of the flint, the top ofthe rod f engages with the under side ofthe arm 0, raising the latter, together with the flint, slightly. Thispermits the striker Z, in its uninterrupted movement, to

pass across and beneaththe face of the flint,

without contacting therewith. The parts are now in the position shownmost clearly in Fig. 2. Now,-as the surface of the cam descends beneaththe roller, the lowering of the rod f permits the spring 0 to draw thearm 0 and the flint downward. The initial downward movement of the rodcauses little or no movement of the arm l connected with the striker,the spring f at this time expanding slightly to correspond with itsformer compression. The result is that the flint descends to its lowestposition, in the path of the striker, while the latter is still in rearof the flint. Thus, when the roller 9 is atthe point h of the cam, theflint is in position to be struck, and the striker is immediately behindthe flint. .The nut Z is now about to engage, or has already engaged,the upper side of the arm Z Consequently, as the roller 9 makes itssharp de scent from the point h to thepoint 7L2, the I jump of the rod fcauses the striker to traverse quickly the lower face of the flint,

producing the shower of sparks already al-. luded to.

However, we do not limit ourselves to the particular features ofconstruction and op 'eration herein shown and described, as we are awarethat these may be modified very considerably without departing from thespirit of the invention. The flint may be of any suitable shape andcharacter, and conveniently carried in a holder of the kind shown or. ofany other suitable character, ,whereby itmay be conveniently adjusted inposition and removed for removal. The

striker may also be of any practical character. It-is importantthateither the flint or the-striker, or both, be yieldinglysupported','"l'sb that, when striking contact is mad between thesemembers, there shall be a cu'shioned effect, to avoid the danger ofbreaking. The springs a and f both contribute to' this cushioningefl'ect.

-'What we claim as new and desire to secure "by Letters Patent in theUnited States is 1. A flint and steel i niter, for gas engines,comprising a flint holder and a flint therein, a steel, and actuatingmeans so associated with said members that they pass each other with aclearance in one direction and contact to produce a spark in the otherdirection.

2. A flint and steel igniter for gas engines, comprising a movable flintholder and a flint therein, a movable striker, and actuatin mechanismassociated with said flint an striker in such fashion that the flint ismoved out of the path of the striker with reference to the travel of thelatter in one direction, but moved into the path thereof with referenceto its travel in the reverse direction.

3. A flint and'steel igniter for gasengines, comprising a movable flintholder and a flint therein, a movable striker, and reciprocable,

actuating mechanism which has positive engagement with the flint holderand yielding engagement with the striker during movement in onedirection, whereby the int is lifted out of the path of the striker, andpositive engagement with the striker on the return movement, whereby thestriker is brought into violent contact with the flint.

'4. A flint and steel i niter for gas engines,

comprising a pivoted flint holder and a flint therein, a pivotedstriker, a spring tending to draw the flint holder to position the flintin the path of the striker, and a cam actuated operating rod adaptedduring its movement in one direction to engage positively with saidflint holder to move the same against the tension of its spring to carrythe flint out of the path of the striker, together with a springencircling said rod and adapted to yieldingly engage and move thestriker during the same operation, said rod in its reverse travel beingadapted to engage the striker positively to cause the latter to contactforcibly with the flint which has been permitted by this movement of therod to occupy a position in the path of said striker.

5. A flint and steel igniter for as engines comprising an'ignitionpocket, a int holder pivoted therein,afiint carried by said holder, 1other period of their movement to permit and a pivotal striker, one ofsaid members i said members to co-act. being cushioned; together withmeans adapt- DAVID S. BROWN J R. ed to be mechanically operated wherebya, FRANK C. STINZING.

clearance is provided between the flint and In the presenceof striker atone period of their movement, and F. W. BARKER, whereby said clearanceis eliminated at an B. MANTEL.

